No. 68.] 88 



now frequently considered, and justly as now treated, a nuisance, 

 may, by simple application to the soil, or still better by being made 

 into compost, be used as the best of fertilizers. One of the best 

 farmers and most successful breeders of our country was driven into 

 the business of agriculture, in self defence as it were. He was an ex- 

 tensive manufacturer, and the difficulty of disposing of the refuse and 

 waste of the establishment, compelled him to purchase a farm in the 

 vicinity of the city, in enriching which, these matters have been most 

 successfully employed. Those farmers who formerly could not be 

 induced to receive such refuse materials as a gift, would now, after 

 the proof they have seen of their value, be happy to purchase them 

 at a liberal price. The furrier, the tanner, the morocco manufactu- 

 rer, comb maker, &c. &c. are all dealing in materials of the utmost 

 value, when applied to the soil as manure; and the farmer little un- 

 derstands his true interests, who, living in the vicinity of any of these, 

 does not avail himself of these refuse matters to the utmost extent 

 permitted. 



Perhaps there is no substance more rich in matters valuable as ma- 

 nures, than the washings and refuse of woolen factories. Chaptal 



Manure ^^^ °^^ '^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^"^ ^^^^ attention to this matter, and the 

 of Wool, instances he gave of their fertilizing power were of the most 

 convincing kind. It is but very lately, however, that any attempts 

 have been made in this country to render the refuse of our factories 

 available. All remember, when around every factory and every 

 clothier's shop in the country, piles of refuse wool, clippings, pick- 

 ings of cards, and sweepings, accumulated in masses, never thought 

 of as of value, but considered as matter of which the owners would most 

 happily be quit. The method of disposing of them, when they could 

 no longer be tolerated, was to throw them into the river; to apply 

 them to the garden or farm was not once thought of. Not long since, 

 in one of our villages, I noticed a garden, the vegetables of which 

 had a luxuriance forming a striking contrast to others near them, and 

 the cause of the difference was asked. " It is all owing to the refuse 

 of that clothier's and carder's shop," was the reply. " I saw in the 

 Cultivator a notice of the value of such manures, and the owner of 

 the shops gladly availed himself of my offer to remove it at my own 

 expense. I gave my garden a good dressing, and as this is the second 

 year, you may judge of the value of the material as a manure. It is 

 probably the last I shall obtain, however," he added, " as the mill 



